La Boca, more Tango and...

La Boca is a rough district of Buenos Aires with a
thin tourist veneer over a couple of streets.

In the mid 19th century the area was settled by Spanish and
Italian immigrants, most of whom worked in the meat packing factories and on
the docks. Legend has it that the excess paint, left over after ship and barge
painting, was used to liven up the local corrugated iron shacks and that this
lead to the area's trade-mark brightly coloured houses.

Our guide book suggests not straying from the four main tourist
streets, adding that there is nothing you would want to see anywhere else in
La Boca. It was one of the few areas of BA we visited that I was
not prepared to walk to or from. Take a taxi or bus.

The tourist areas of La Boca are now self-consciously
colourful with lots of good street cafes, bold murals and papier
mâché figures. Luckily there are also many purveyors of tasteful
mementoes and fine folk art. (My dictionary defines
"sarcasm" as ironically scornful language.)Recommended
(the area not the mementoes).

The three figures on the balcony (above) are Maradona
(an ex-footballer I believe, who began his career in the Boca
Juniors soccer team), Eva Maria Duarte (an ex-actress) and
Carlos Gardel (who died in a plan crash in 1935, but is said to
"sing better every day").

Tango permeates all aspects of tourist BA. But it is also a part
of real life in the city. For example the excellent non-tourist CD shop
Zivals (at Ave. Callao
395) has a fine selection of European and USA rock and Pop CDs. But the section
devoted just to Argentinian Tango CDs is bigger. (Normal CDs cost around
$10USD).

As can be seen above (top row, left) Tango was also danced between
men in the past.

Most restaurants offer some form of Tango entertainment, and the
one we ate at in La Boca was no exception. When we arrived the
scantly clad female Tango dancer was ready and waiting. Alas in spite of many
phone calls her partner failed to arrive and another couple (top row, centre)
dancing on the street corner had to be recruited by the restaurant manager to
take her place. Eventually a lack-luster partner was found (bottom row,
centre). Watching the interaction between the dancers was as entertaining as
the dancing itself.

Even the underground (the Subte) can cost you more in
tips to the Tango dancers than the fare (bottom row, left). Since the fare is
only $0.30USA anywhere in BA, this not a great problem.

Probably the best Tango dancing we have seen was at the free show
at El Balcon (first floor on the corner of Defensa
and Humberto). The show was a good balance of sultry (and very
athletic) dancing (top row, right) and good music. The food (you have to order
a meal or pay a cover charge) was excellent. Although after a while "more prime
steak than you can eat" for $7USA becomes repetitive.

Whilst walking along Ave. Sarmiento near the zoo,
under a thick covering of trees Judy was (how to put this delicately?) covered
in bird shit. Luckily several of the passersby immediately offered help in the
form of paper tissues and bottled water to clear up the mess.

Or to put it another
way...

We were nearly the victims of a classic BA scam. One member of the
gang sprays the victims on the back with brown "gunge", then as soon as this is
noticed, his accomplices arrive and offer paper tissues and water. In the
confusion and distracted by the cleaning up process, the victim's
wallet/bag/camera is lifted.

Both of us realized what was going on and walked briskly away
before any harm was done (except to our clothes).

A few seconds latter we were approached by a man who claimed to
have seen what happened and told us we should call the police. Was he part two
of the scam or was he genuine? We don't know.

We got in the second taxi to slow down, and drove back to our
car park, where we spent the afternoon doing
laundry.